Of Love and Loss
by Music is the Song of Life
Summary: Protector. Guardian. We were here to protect the children of Earth from a fate much worse then death. We protected them from a world drenched in fear. Now we must teach one who may not know his purpose how to do the same. We're gonna need a lot more than luck for this one...
1. Tragedy

_There are always those days where you don't know who you are anymore. You lose all meaning, all purpose to your existence. The light goes out and you're left with nothing. Then there are other moments where you finally realize what your purpose is, what you're meant to do. Those are the moments where we shine the brightest. _

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The little village of Burgess, buried deep within the Pennsylvanian forest, was always a quiet place. Isolated from civilization, it was its own frozen oasis. For nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. Which made it the perfect place to find a little solace. To escape from the burden of protection. The burden of being a guardian.

That's what Valencia did. Anytime she just needed a moment to herself without some cherub screaming in her face about how one thing had gone wrong, or just a moment to reflect on her "life" as a guardian, she would end up in Burgess. It's where she would always go. It had been here home as a mortal girl, so it only made sense to make it her eternal home as well. After all, eternity is a long time.

Tilted against a tree trunk among the branches, Val was careful to remain unseen. Although she was an immortal and would go unseen by most, to children who believed, she appeared in all of her dark haired, pink eyed, immortal glory.

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The sound of laughter and skates on ice drew Val's attention toward the nearby lake. Long since frozen over for the winter, Val spotted to figures skating over the glassy top. A young girl, no older than 8, was laughing as an older boy chased her around the lake. Val quickly jumped to the next tree and crouched low against the trunk to watch the pair, laughing to herself as they continued enjoying the winter air.

"Keep up Jack!" the little girl would yell as she continued skating around. Her brother, Jack, would only laugh in reply and chase her making miscellaneous animal noises, which would incite another giggle. Val remembered her mortal life. She remembered her sisters and her parents. She remembered singing by the fire and playing in the fields. She remembered her mother getting ready for Christmas and Easter and her father telling bedtime stories. She remembered it all. And she missed it all the more.

The light crackling if the ice is what caught Val's attention first. The girl froze and her eyes widened with realization as did Val's.

"No!" Val's inner self was screaming. She knew she was not to interfere in the lives of mortals, but she refused to sit back and watch this little girl die.

Jack's actions surprised Val. He turned the whole thing into a game. A game to take his sister's mind away from the ice. And he saved her. He put himself in her place. Val exhaled the breath she had been holding as she watched the whole thing unfold. And she watched in horror as Jack fell through the ice.

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Hours had passed since Val had watched the boy Jack fall through the ice. She had watched his sister run home and bring her parents back. She had watched them try in vain to fish his body from the lake, with no success. She watched their mother cry and wail in the snow while clutching the little girl and their father become angry and upset as reality sunk in. Long since had they left the lake side, and darkness had fallen. Val continued watching the lake with tears in her eyes. It had all happened so quickly. She was unable to react, and now Jack was dead. She felt like this was somehow her fault.

Val looked up at the full moon, which now shone brighter on the lake. Brows furrowed in confusion, Val glided down to the icy pond, watching in both shock and bewilderment as Jack rose from below the ice, now with stark white skin and hair. Ice blue eyes snapped open and he fell to the ice once more, inhaling his lost breath deeply. He saw the world through new eyes. Lost eyes.

Spotting the stick he had used earlier to rescue his sister, he gripped it again and instantly it froze at his touch. He used the staff to draw intricate frost patterns on the ice and seemed to have found pleasure in his newfound powers. Val giggled lightly as he slipped on the ice and lost his footing.

Jack whipped around at the sound of laughter and Val immediately silenced her laughter. She was standing on the ground and her red valence and pink trousers stood out bright against the snow like lightning in the night sky. The shock of being watched overtook the confused Jack as he eyed Val with more questions than she could even hope to answer.

"Who are you?" Jack stuttered as he looked around the wilderness surrounding him. Val hesitated, but decided she might as well reply. After all, he was an immortal now. Stepping out of the shadows she gathered herself before answering.

"Valencia. I'm the spirit of Valentine's Day and the Guardian of innocence."

Jack's eyes widened. Val then realized it probably would have been best to introduce the world of the guardians much more slowly and gently.

"Well, then," Jack began, "Who am I?"

With that, Val looked toward the moon once more. This was more of where he stepped in. Noticing Val's glance, Jack looked at the moon and squinted in confusion.

"Jack Frost?"

Jack looked at Val, who locked eyes with the blue eyed spirit, sympathizing with him. He was lost, confused, and more than anything, he was alone. But Val could do nothing for him, except guide him in the ways of the guardians. But who knew if he even was a guardian. After all, Manny had only told him his name. Nothing more. Not even his memories. And if Manny didn't mention it, then there had to be a reason. It was key that Val did not interfere.

"Meet me here at noon tomorrow," Val began, catching Jack's attention once again, "I will show you what you need to know tomorrow. Until then, Just stay out of trouble."

With that, Valencia vanished in a flurry of rose petals, leaving a bewildered Jack behind.

And that, my children, is where the Guardians journey, begins.


	2. Evil Awakens

The sound of fluttering wings roused Valencia's mind as she opened her eyes from her long nap. Her eyes shot open as she allowed herself to take in more detailed sounds. Frantic words, spoken quickly; the sounds of wings beating against the air; and the sudden crash of glass was all that was needed to complete rouse Valencia from her contented state.

Sitting up to awaken her mind from its former reverie, Valencia took in the familiar surroundings. The crystalline palace, with it's golden trim was the closet thing Valencia had to call home, though it was more of a floating workshop. The tiny specks that she saw flying this way and that across the sky could only be the cherubs, though she couldn't figure out why they were in such a panic. Valentine's Day had been weeks ago and it was getting close to Easter. Not anywhere near time for them to start preparing for next year, minus the roses and tulips that were handcrafted throughout the year. Chocolate and stuffed animal concepts didn't even start until spring time, since it was the best time to harvest the cocoa beans.

Standing on the golden cloud, grasping her silver bow as she did so, Valenicia, formed a small silver disk with her hands. With a fluid motion, the silver disk flattened until it was large enough for Val to stand on. Taking a running start, she jumped onto the disk and flew downward toward the crystal palace.

Upon reaching the large front doors, Valencia dismounted the disk; which disappeared a moment after; and quickly entered the workshop. Upon her entrance, she was swamped with the cherub, their toga-clad, child-like bodies weighing down on her with questions.

"There's been a delay in rose production!"

"The cocoa trees aren't yielding the profitable margin of beans this year."

"Someone broke into the flower shop!"

At the last statement, Val's eyebrow quirked and she sent a large gust of wind outward from her body, sending several cherubs somersaulting away in the air. She turned toward one in particular, a young girl, with blue hair, who had been the last to speak.

"Abigail, what was that you said?" Val's tone was urgent and stern, which let the cherubs know she meant business. Val was all fun and games, but when it came to her workshop and her role as Guardian, she was no-nonsense.

"Someone broke into the flower shop," the small cherub piped up, silver eyes glinting with fierceness, "Everything's destroyed."

Val's usually pink eyes turned a fiery red as she took off down one of the main hallways. Wind blasting behind her as she rushed down the hall, her worst fears were realized as she reached the golden inlaid door to the flower shop, which remained open, as one of the hinges was busted off.

The interior of the shop was in complete disarray. Vases lie shattered on the ground and tools were strewn about the room. Delicate petals had been stomped into the ground, now separated from their stem and covered in the dirt of the earth.

"Was anyone in here when it happened?" Valencia question urgently. If someone was here, they could possibly give her some idea of who had done this.

"Only Jack and Eliza, but no one's seen them since," Abigail answered. Whoever they were, they were smart enough not to leave any witnesses. Valencia could only hope they were unharmed.

"Well, have the entire room searched from top to bottom," Val ordered, to which the cherubs firmly nodded, "If anything seems out of place, report it to me immediately."

Several cherubs dispersed throughout the room, picking up documents and the remaining pieces of vases and flower stems. The rest of the company went back to work elsewhere, mourning the loss of the work that had been done. Val stayed behind to help with the search. Floating quickly from wall to wall, sweeping through debris and broken glass as she went, Val had about as much luck finding any clues as her cherubs did.

The light flickering is what caught Val's attention. A faint surge in the lights on the map which lie pinned to the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Val stepped carefully across the broken shards of glass as she approached the map on the wall. Drawn on parchment, the map depicted the entirety of the Earth, and strewn throughout each country and city were glittering lights, representing each and every child that believed. But something was wrong, as if the balance had been tipped. The children of the world were no longer safe. Along the right side of the map, falling in a steady stream like the trickle of an hourglass, was a black sand.

As Val walked closer to investigate the falling sand, she remember that time all those years ago, when the world was covered in darkness and the children of the world lived in a constant fear. As the thought struck Val, her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

"It can't be."

Without warning, a menacing laugh echoed through the halls of the crystal palace. The Cherubs stood frozen in fear as the laugh echoed throughout the workshop. Even the ever composed Val was now terrified of what had returned to the world. She knew that this mean danger and she knew she needed to warn the other Guardians. Without so much as a second thought, Vall rushed back to the front entrance and ran out the door, grabbing her red quarter sleeve valence as she exited through the doors. After all, it was bound to be cold at the North Pole.

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**Short update but I've felt like I've needed to get this up for a while. Remember to review and check out the poll on my profile. It can help your favorite story get updated faster. **

**Peace and love darlings.**


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